Percy Jackson and the Mermen: The Trident Thief
by andiree
Summary: Percy Jackson: The Little Merman? That's a plot twist I wasn't expecting. Inspired by- /art/Percy-the-little-merman-358362840 -this story is a hybrid tale of our favorite demigod, Percy Jackson, and Disney's beautiful Ariel. What a crossover this will be.
1. Chapter 1

"Come on, Grover," I shouted. "You swim slower than an angelfish!" I flipped my fins faster, creating a vaster distance between the two of us. A few twirls for show wouldn't hurt either.

"I'm not slow," Grover protested, trying to catch his breath. "You just have some abnormal oxygen capacity."

I snorted, a few bubbles floating over to my best friend. "But hurry up," I said, glancing down at the sunken ship below us. "I want to search it before the counselors realize I'm missing."

"Why don't we just turn around?" Grover suggested instead, clearly not thrilled. He gulped. "It's not like that stuff's worth anything."

"Do you even hear yourself, Grover? Not worth anything-yeah right." I sped faster towards the ship, and he swam faster in pursuit.

The ship looked like it had been down here for ages. The wood was tearing away and falling around the sand; massive holes had formed on the sides of the ship from either erosion or sharks. I didn't really care what did it. It gave me an easy entrance, and therefore, I was thankful.

Once I was inside, I turned around and spotted Grover. "Come on. Don't be such a guppy, Grover."

This got him going. It always did.

"I am_ not_ a guppy," he snapped.

"You are not a guppy," I agreed, arms crossed.

"I am a goatfish. I am a brave goatfish."

"You know it."

"I am going to go into this ship-"

"Yeah you are."

"-and no one is going to tell me otherwise!"

With a loud battle cry-I didn't know why that was always necessary-Grover zipped through the hole, and hit the opposite wall with such a force that half of the room shuttered. He wasn't that big a fish, but boy, he could get a lot of power behind that fin.

We searched the room, finding nothing but rocks, wood, and water. Despite his grand entrance, Grover seemed to be extremely jittery as we swam through the ship. His distress wasn't soothing in the least.

"If you want," I told him, "you could go watch for the hippocampi. We don't need any of those horse-butts to rat us out."

Grover nodded, grateful to have an excuse to leave the ship without actually leaving his duties. The goatfish were set to protect the demigods, at least, of the underwater realm. (Rumor is there's some kind of goat-human up on land that protects the human demigods. Weird.) By watching out for the hippocampi, he was still technically protecting me. The hippocampus weren't violent, not in this land. It was more of the fragile state of peace between me and my father, Poseidon. Hippocampus were the biggest tattletales I knew. If they told my father I was down here searching yet another sunken ship for human things, I would surely get in trouble. Being grounded caused yet another problem-I wouldn't get to search for _more_ human things.

Grover left to guard the entrance, and I delved further into the ship. There had to be _something_ down here, I thought angrily. The humans couldn't have possibly rescued all of their belongings.

Just then, I spotted something. The barest amount of light skimmed it, making the object twinkle. As I neared it, I realized the object was bronze. Celestial bronze, it seemed. I picked it up, and examined it.

It almost looked like a trident.

If this was a human trident, how did they ever get stuff done? I doubted this little thing welded as much power as my father's did. This was only barely longer than my hand.

I'd ask the Oracle about it, I decided. She seemed to be the only one willing to answer my questions lately. Plus, she didn't tell my father anything. The benefits of being friends with birds.

I met Grover by the entrance. He was a shaking. "Get yourself together, dude," I told him before slipping out through the hole in the wall.

"W-what are talking about, Perc?" Grover asked, swimming up beside me. "I'm perfectly fine. Nothing can scare this f-fish."

Just as the words left his mouth, a scream quickly filled it.

A dark, huge shadow had fallen over us.

I tried to cover his mouth, but boy, this fish was persistent.

"Shut up," I whispered ardently.

"B-but-"

"It's only Tyson," I told him, rolling my eyes and gesturing to the big fish that had swam up behind us. My half-brother had a goofy smile on his face, flipping his fins to and fro. He would pop up out of there sometimes-like just now. It almost always scared the living daylights out of us.

Grover seemed to calm down, realizing our threat was not in fact a threat. Tyson could be a threat, if he wanted to be. Being a cyclops-fish had its perks, like perfect voice-acting and issuing utter terror on its victims. But no, Tyson wouldn't hurt a thing. Nobody needed to know that, though. His company was beneficial in that fact: nobody ever dared to mess with you when you had a cyclops for a brother.

"I'm sowy fer scarin you, Gwover." Tyson tried to snuggle up next to him, but Grover shied away. He had a previous trauma with a different cyclops-fish that hadn't left him yet. We didn't like to talk about it.

The three of us began our trip back to the camp, trying to avoid the Ichthyocentaurs at all costs. They were so annoying when it came to protocol. They literally hung on Dad's every word. I guess that makes sense, considering he is the god of the oceans and seas. But seriously, guys-get a grip.

The three of us managed to slip through the fence without getting stopped by the guards. They were kind of oblivious sometimes. Especially when that one guy bakes brownies-the guys go nuts. That, unfortunately, wasn't the case today. Had it been, I would've tried to sneak some for myself-but only if they were blue.

I had this allergy-I didn't really know how to explain it. In short, I could only eat things that were blue. Seriously. I know, it sounds funny-but really, it's not. Whenever I eat anything ranging in color, whether it be some coral flakes or a seaweed salad-I just puff up like a blowfish. It seriously sucks. Apparently, it's also a really rare disease. Lucky me, to be graced by its presence.

Grover left me to go to the Reef, where the rest of the goatfish reside. I spotted water nymphs frolicking through the seaweed. One noticed me and smiled, waving. I nodded, and swam towards my cabin.

Since the camp was only used for training, I only kept my "souvenirs" and weapons in my cabin. My bed currently resided in Poseidon's palace, in the west wing. Everything seemed to be in the west wing, really. Maybe that's why I spent so much time out of the palace.

Plus, it was really boring. Aside from my father and his wife, Amphitrite, I was the only merperson in the kingdom. Apparently, their son Triton's palace was thriving with merpeople. The guy had seven daughters! But Triton couldn't stand me; stupid sibling rivalries. Alas, I was stuck here in this boring town.

My cabin was just as clean as I'd left it: not at all. Celestial bronze shields and coral knives littered the floor, as well as several blue candy wrappers. My sword, Riptide, was sitting in my pocket. (Yes, fishtails have pockets!).

I walked to the opposite end of the room, and knelt down on the floor. I pushed aside the sand covering the floor, and yanked open the door leading to my treasure chamber. It took me an entire week to dig that thing out, but man, it was AWESOME. Even better were the things that occupied it. Human things of all kinds: small, short, tall, long, fat, thin. Half of the things I had never heard of, or even seen for that matter. Each new discovery only led me to wonder what the world above the surface was like.

Man, I wish I could be a part of their world.

(That didn't mean I was gonna sing about it.)


	2. Chapter 2

My father really needed to reevaluate his security methods, because leaving the palace grounds was becoming far less challenging by the day. Especially since it was nearing the end of the day, the sunlight was dimmer and therefore proved easier for me to sneak by the guards. Grover and Tyson both decided to join me to visit the Oracle. I didn't know why they both had this immense fear that I was swimming towards my death. Haven't they heard? I'm Percy Jackson.

_That's_ Poseidon's last name? You bet it isn't.

Jackson was my mother's surname, according to Poseidon. He rarely ever told me about her; it was usually only in moments of weakness. Story has it they fell in love and had one hot stormy night. No, seriously-they met during a hurricane. (I was also born during a hurricane, apparently. I really didn't know what to think about all of this) Regardless, after I was born the two decided it was best for her to be on land and for me and my father to remain under the sea.

For the best, my fin.

I had never met her. She was a human, I was a merman. She lived on land, I in the sea. Get-togethers proved difficult in that sense. I tried not to get upset by it, though. Sure, having a mother would be nice. Anyone would be nicer than Amphitrite. Stepmothers-the rumors really don't exaggerate.

There wasn't a lot of time left before the sun went down, so Grover, Tyson and I hurried towards the normal meeting place: a large rock, too far for humans to swim to, but close enough for us to see the waves crash along the shore. This was Oracle's favorite perching location, and honesty, mine as well. I enjoyed human-watching to no extent. They were such a strange, interesting species.

Thankfully, the Oracle always knew when we were coming (the perks of being an Oracle, I supposed). She was nestled on the tip of the rock, pecking around at the crevices. "Percy!" she exclaimed, giddy. "I see you brought me dinner."

Tyson smiled, and Grover actually gasped. This caused him to gasp further, since his head was above water, and he was, in fact, a fish.

"I kid, I kid," the Oracle said, laughing, as I pushed my friend underwater. He collected his breath, but remained under the surface. The Oracle's beak glistened in the setting sun. "What did you come to show me today?"

I raised my eyebrow. "You already know that, though, don't you?"

Regardless, I pulled the miniature trident out of my pocket and presented it to her. She took it in her wing, regarding it curiously.

"This...yes, I've seen one of these before. What was it called...oh, yes!"

She held the object high in the air, proclaiming: "A hopperdingle!"

"A_ hopperdingle_," I repeated. Was that awe in my voice?

"What," Tyson and Grover said in unison.

"I'll show you," Oracle said. Orchestrating according to her directions, she said, "All you do is pull it through your hair, see?. A twist, a pull, a yank, and WALA! You have some lovely locks for the folks to gaze upon."

She handed me the hopperdingle, and I did as she had showed me. I had to admit, my hair did feel great afterwards.

I felt a tug on my fin, and I looked down at Grover. He pointed towards the sky, which was very close to dark. Time to go.

I looked back at Oracle, who was strutting around the rock with her insanely puffy new hairdo. "I have to go," I said, wanting anything but to. "Thank you, though."

Oracle waved her wing. "Not a problem." Pointing to the hopperdingle, she added, "Go and find yourself a pretty lady fish, handsome!" She then flew off, leaving a few loose feathers on the rock.

That was one awesome bird.

The three of us began heading back towards the palace. All the while, I was twisting the hoppledinger through my hair and asking Grover his opinion.

"How does it look? Too puffy?"

"It's fine, Perc," he said dully. That had been his response for the past ten times. Was it bad to want some constructive criticism?

We had been swimming for about ten minutes when a flash of red overhead caught my eye. I paused, looking up. "Did you see that?" I asked, nudging my friends.

They turned around and looked where I had. After a minute, Grover said, "I don't see anything but water." He turned back around and continued swimming.

"There!" I shouted as another burst of light appeared. "There it is again!"

Just as he was looking, the lights fell away.

My shoulders fell in exasperation. "Are you_ kidding me_?" I yelled at the surface.

"I think you need some sleep, Percy."

"I don't need any sleep! I swear-just...follow me."

I began kicking myself towards the surface, determined to show them I wasn't crazy. The two followed behind me, urging me not to break the surface. But you should never tell me not to do something and expect to be listened to.

As my head broke through the waves, my eyes went to the sky. Two, three, five explosions of light soared up again before falling down among the darkness. It was amazing.

About a hundred feet away was a ship-just like the one we had searched through earlier. Except, you know, it wasn't hole-ridden and was floating.

There was a loud exclamation when the next burst of light filled the sky, followed by a chorus of laughter.

Humans.

"I have to go and see," I said, grinning. I began heading towards the ship.

"What? Are you insane? You can't go over there! They could spot you!" Even at full speed, Grover couldn't catch up with me.

The closer I got, the more distinct the sounds became. There was a strange music being played, and as I scaled the ship, I watched the humans move their feet to it in attempts of rhythm.

Feet-what a strange thing.

I wonder what it would be like to have feet instead of fins? To dance like they could.

Even with my fins, I'm pretty sure I would have been a better dancer than these people. They were so offbeat it hurt to look it.

I spotted one girl off to the side of the ship, sitting alone and staring at-what was it called again? I think the humans called it a book. Yes, it was a book. And a thick one, at that.

The girl was dressed in a loose white shirt and brown pants, with thick black boots. I may not know human culture, but I was pretty sure this wasn't how the females dressed. My theory was affirmed as I glanced at the several women dancing around the ship, all in long skirts and hair did up in braids and buns.

But I liked the girl's hair-long, blonde ringlets, tied tight with a red ribbon.

As if feeling my eyes on her, she looked up from and to where I sat perched beside the ship. But i was faster than her; my body was now pressed against the wood, avoiding the girl's gaze. After a few minutes, I cautiously pulled myself back up and looked onto the deck. The girl's attention was now held by a blonde-haired boy, who had a long white line down his cheek and a flirty smirk on his lips. She seemed to be replying with just as much flirtation, and for some reason it made my chest pull.

"What is it with you and these books, Annabeth?" the boy said, pulling the item from her hands. He held it over his head as she stood on her toes, reaching for it.

"Give it back," she laughed, as he held it further from her.

"I don't think so," he said, smirking. "I don't think anything could match the greatness of this book. I think I'm going to have to keep it for myself."

"I doubt you have any interest in Athenian architecture, Luke," she replied, hands on her hips.

He placed a hand over his heart, while the other holding her book remained in the air, and gasped. "Me? Not interested? You must be joking." But the grin on his face assured that she was, in fact, correct.

Just then, a new burst of light struck the sky. But unlike the others, did not bring any laughter. Instead, the crewmembers looked up in worry. Another streak of white coursed across the night sky, just as pellets of water began to fall. "All women inside!" one crewmember instructed, shouting over the chaos. Then he began issuing out orders to the men, sending them to various location on the ship. They tugged on ropes, poured buckets of ocean water back into the ocean-but none of it seemed to be working. I noticed a few men on the far end of the ship, throwing various dairy products overboard and yelling my father's name for help. Unfortunately for them, my father was lactose intolerant.

"Annabeth!" I heard Luke shout, and I whipped my head back towards the main deck. She had run out from the room the women were residing, and rushed over to Luke.

"I know how to help!" she shouted.

"Get back inside," he said, pushing her towards the room.

"No," she said, pushing against him with nearly equal force. "I know how to keep us floating!"

"Get back in that room, Annabeth, I'm not jok-"

"I want to help! Please!"

"No," he said, more forcefully.

Annabeth's expression could literally send a dozen daggers at your chest. "I can_ help_," she shouted, angrier than before.

Luke rested his hand on her cheek, but she slapped it away.

His eyebrows furrowed. "You're the princess I'm not going to say this again. Get inside, before you get hurt."

If she was shooting daggers before, now she was wielding a dozen machetes. "Just because I'm royalty-I can-It does _not_ make me useless!" she snapped. "I'm Athena's daughter, Luke-I can help!"

"I don't care how smart you are or are not, Annabeth. Get back in that cabin, before I carry you in there myself."

She took a hard look at Luke, and then whipped her hand across his face.

Almost immediately after, a bolt of lightning struck the ship, sending the crew into a panic and the ship afire. Annabeth's eyes filled with fear, but only for a moment. She ran towards the crew members trying to tell them how they could keep this ship afloat. It was genius really, what she had to say. But nobody listened to her. They pulled harder on the sails, yelled at each other to move faster. Everybody was in chaos, and the only person with a faint idea of how to save them was being carried over Luke's shoulder and forced into a room with twenty other women.

"Percy!" I heard Grover yell from the ocean-he and Tyson were swimming at the surface. "Get down here," he said as I heard another crew member shout "She's gonna blow! Get on the lifeboats!"

I dove into the ocean, swimming far enough from the ship that no human would spot me, but close enough that I could keep watch for Annabeth.

Dozens of men and women were loaded into the lifeboats. I kept looking for her face, and when I did, I sighed with relief. I didn't even know I had been holding my breath. But just as they were told to lower the boat-the last boat-I saw her eyes open with panic;she jumped back over the side, catching grasp of the ship's ledge.

Luke, who had been on the lifeboat with her, yelled, terrified. "Annabeth!"

But she ignored him and ran further into the flames of the ship.

"_Annabeth_!" he cried.

She appeared, carrying a small animal in her arms-a black dog, with small patches. Annabeth was smiling when she neared the edge of the ship; but then her leg fell through the burnt floorboards, and I heard her scream in terror. Luke cried out her name again, just as the dog flew through the air. The crew members in the boat below caught him easily in their hands. Who knew Annabeth's act of bravery would come down to the life of a dog.

Within minutes the ship exploded, and my own fear was muted by the yells of the men and women. Ignoring Grover's protests, I dove into the water and towards the drowning girl.

She was easy to spot-white against the blackness. I sped over to her, and pulled her into my arms. Her heartbeat was moving unnaturally slow-and mine was at least doubled. I kicked the two of us towards the surface, and kept kicking until we reached land. The waves washed us ashore, and I lay her over the sand, wiping the hair from her eyes. We stayed like that until the morning dawn. The sunlight hit the planes of her face so beautifully I could barely breathe.

I was soothing her hair-and singing, no hate-when her eyes began to blink open. They were a gray-dazzling, yet seemed to smile, and rested her hand on my hand, falling into the touch.

"Who...who are you?" she began, clutching my hand more tightly.

A loud bark ripped through our moment, and I whipped my head around, spotting the small dog from the night before running towards us. I muttered a curse under my breath and took one last look at Annabeth before letting the current pull me back into the ocean's safety.

From a rock in the distance, I watched Annabeth sit up and her eyes search the beach for the mysterious boy who had saved her. The dog jumped on her and licked her face, barking happily. Luke followed behind, smiling when he spotted her.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he said when he reached her.

"He...saved me."

"Who did?"

I slid down as her eyes scanned the ocean. I could almost feel them resting on the rock.

"Nobody."


	3. Chapter 3

"What the hell did you think you were doing? Who knows what they could've done to you if you'd been seen. Absolutely careless, you are! Really, Percy? How am I supposed to protect you when-are you even listening to me?"

I had zoned out of Grover lecture at least twenty minutes ago. There was no point. He was trying to make me feel guilty. But what sense was there to feel guilty for saving a girl's life.

A beautiful, beautiful girl for that matter.

"You're not listening are you?"

"Of course I'm listening," I lied, my voice flat. "Your words of wisdom inspire me to every day."

He smacked me in the arm with his fin, and I cursed. "This isn't something to joke about, Perc. What if your father had seen you? Would you be laughing then?"

"Let him see me," I grumbled.

Tyson, Grover, and I went our separate ways once we had sneaked back into the camp. Tyson went to the underwater forges, eager to get back to crafting shields and swords and breastplates. He had a knack for that kind of stuff-plus, he was fireproof. It came in handy. Grover and I didn't say a word to each other as we swam towards the Reef. Fine. Let him be difficult.

When I had finally arrived at the palace, I swam quickly through the grand hall and up to my bedroom. The sun was bright-bright enough to make me cringe-but I didn't care. I collapsed, soon finding sleep inevitable.

I was awoken by the booming sound of my father's laughter. If I hadn't been dreaming so splendidly, I wouldn't have cared as much. But you wouldn't be so peachy either if your Dad's obnoxious roars interrupted a beautifully manifested make-out session between you and your significant other.

I had just clamped my pillow tightly over my ears when he burst into the room and boomed, "What are you doing, boy? Sleeping on a beautiful morning such as this."

"That's the key word Dad: sleeping." I tried to hug myself closer to the pillow, but suddenly I was hugging the water. A groan escaped.

"No sleep," he said, ripping the seaweed blanket off my back as well. "Up. Your nieces' show is tonight."

I groaned again, louder this time. "I thought that was cancelled." My one niece-pretty much the only I could tolerate-had skipped out on their performance a few days ago. Of course, I was a bit peeved that I had gotten up and lugged my stupid fin all the way over there for nothing. But it was better to watch the humiliation on those little brats' faces then to hear them sing in the first place. Family or not, they were spoiled rotten. Just like their father.

"You should be excited to watch your nieces perform," Poseidon said.

"I would rather stab my ears than listen to that again."

"Ariel has a tremendous voice," he reasoned.

"So do I, Pops."

"If you want a concert, be my guest."

"I was being sarcastic."

"I know you were."

This was the run-down of almost all our conversations.

After about a minute-long stare-down, I finally gave in. "Fine."

"Thought so." He smiled, and patted me on the back. "Be ready in ten, alright? I want to get good seats." When he left, I had to restrain myself from punching a wall.

I didn't want to watch some stupid concert. I wanted to go back to sleep and dream about Annabeth. Like, right now. But I got dressed anyway-dressed being a thin seaweed tie and combing my hair down-and left my room. Dad and Amphitrite met me by the steps (I didn't even know why we had steps-we were fish) and we left for the show soon after. As we swam en route to the only place I could dread more than home, regretting more and more each minute that I didn't fake a sickness, I thought of how there were so many better things I could be wasting my time on-dreaming of Annabeth, for instance. No, that wasn't a waste of time-it could only and ever would be the best time ever spent. That, next to actually being with her. But I tried not to focus on stuff like that: it only made it more painful to accept the impossible.

Not that my nieces' were any less of a torture.

We arrived at the musical hall and took our usual seats. Triton smiled broadly at his father, nodded at me. The bitterness was mutual, I supposed. I was thankful when the lights dimmed; nobody would notice me napping.

But it wasn't necessary, apparently. Almost after fifteen minutes of delay, some ugly little fish in a ridiculous ruffled collar (Triton was a terrible stylist) skittered on stage and nervously announced that the show was going to be cancelled. Again.

Triton was furious.

"What do you mean cancelled?" he boomed. The fish nearly disappeared into the collar. The audience cringed, fearing Triton's temper. I noticed his long gray beard flowing in the water. Nasty.

The fish stuttered when he spoke. "The g-girls are f-feeling i-i-ill, y-your highness."

"Ill? This is ridiculous! Call them out here-"

"No, that will be all," my father stepped in.

"But Father-"

The king didn't look pleased, but Poseidon rested a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, son. You can all visit my palace when they are up to the weather-give Amphitrite and Percy and I a personal performance."

I cringed at the thought; Triton noticed, and smiled.

"Of course, Father. If that will make you happy."

My head fell into my hands. I sighed loudly.

Instead of waiting around while my wicked stepbrother sent the merpeople out of the music hall, my father and Amphitrite swam towards the town square, eager for a bite to eat. I, on the other hand, decided to explore. My prospects weren't too exciting: a few glass bottles, dead seaweed, broken combs and littered trash. I guess I should've expected that when searching in a city as big as this. But despite the disappointment my search had become, I had to appreciate this place, if only a little bit. Yeah, Triton was the ruler so it sucked, but I loved the craziness of it. The busy city life was a perfect match for this ADHD merkid-much better than Dad's boring palace. I didn't know how anyone could enjoy living where I do, ADHD or not.

I was pushing the borders a little bit, extending my search because-come on-I had to find at least something. What was the point of coming here if I left without an earache or a new item to add to my human trinket collection? Hope was slipping further and further from my grasp-until I saw it.

It was a book, buried half deep in the sand, only the thick spine visible. I swam over to it and pulled it up cautiously; I heard once that these didn't do too well underwater. Luckily, I discovered this power recently that could be helpful. I closed my eyes, willing the oxygen in the water to form an air bubble around the book. If the book could speak, it would have given me a gracious thank you.

I watched the pages drip, and I examined the spine and cover. The words were unintelligible to me; not because it was in a human language, but because I was dyslexic. Yeah, ADHD and dyslexia-what a break, right? Regardless, it was a tough time for me in the camp's schooling sessions, and I simply just gave up. Reading wasn't a necessity in the life of a merman.

The language was in Greek, I recognized. Athena's name was written in a fancy hand, and I managed to distinguish the word for architecture. I remembered Annabeth talking about that on the ship. Maybe this...

My eyes widened when I noticed the charred edges of the pages; my hands held the book ever more carefully in the air bubble. A small slip of paper was peeking out from between two pages, and I slipped it out.

When I saw her face, I gasped, nearly dropping the paper.

Of course, I wouldn't actually drop it.

I looked at the image in awe. Annabeth was radiant in white, wearing a long, silk gown and a golden crown of laurels in her hair. Her blonde locks fell in princess curls, resting on her shoulders, down her back, slipping from their pins. I barely paid attention to the others in the photo- a man, a woman, a dog. The dog she saved from the fire, I recalled.

Most of all, I looked at her eyes: a gorgeous, pale shade of grey. There was a fierceness to them that I had never seen in another person. She could make you or break you with just one look.

Man, she was hot.

I slipped the photograph into my fin's pocket, forcing Riptide to make room for company. Then, I held the book tightly and began racing towards home. I would tell Father I was feeling ill, I thought. Seemed a reasonable excuse, seeing as how the entire show was cancelled for that same reason.

The ichthyocentaurs weren't expecting my early arrival, but didn't question it. Luckily, I managed to position the book so that they couldn't see, and when I was clear, I rushed to my cabin. As I walked inside, I could feel myself sighing with relief. I shoved the seaweed scrolls and weapons off the table, and set the book down softly. The air bubbled remained even after I removed my hands from the object. My eyes scanned over the pages, but I couldn't interpret it well enough to know whether or not I would find interest in it. But I did enjoy the picture. I could stare at it for hours.

"Percy!" my father's voice boomed from the doorway. I spun around, hiding the book behind my back.

"Father!" I replied, trying to keep the anxiety out of my voice. He couldn't be allowed to see this book. He would destroy it, surely. "What are you doing here?"

He gave me a look, smirking. "Amph and I couldn't find you anywhere. Felt bad, losing my own son and all. So we decided to head back here to look."

"I wasn't feeling good." I held the book closer to my back.

"Figured. Well, I guess there's nothing more to say, so I guess-" He cut himself off mid sentence, his eyes narrowing on something behind me. "What is that?"

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me, boy," he snapped. His finger pointed to the table. When I looked, my heart dropped from my chest to the floor. In my rush to conceal the book I had left the picture out in the open.

When I looked back to him, my expression confirmed his ideas.

"Where did you get that photograph?"

"It was just lying around dad, it doesn't mean anything-"

"Give it to me."

"What?" I almost screeched. "No!"

He glared at me-not as violently as Annabeth could, but nearly as much.

"What did you say?"

I straightened my back, taking hold of the photograph and clutching it into my hand.

"No."

Almost effortlessly, the water seized me, taking control of my body. My father waved his trident, controlling the water and my movement. The piece of paper slipped out of my hand and across to my father, who caught it. In my lack of control, I felt the book slip from behind my back, and I heard my father gasp.

"You've been hiding more from me." I didn't think he could sound angrier. I tried to shake my head but the water wouldn't let me. "How much more have you been hiding in this cabin?"

Within the next minute, he discovered my other treasures, hidden in the corner of the cabin. Within even less time, his trident had turned them all to dust.

I screamed when he held up the picture.

"Please, father, please." I cried. "Just let me keep that, at least."

When his trident neared the paper, I nearly collapsed.

"No, stop it! Stop it-"

And when I couldn't stand it any more, I gave in.

"I love her, Father!"

He looked close to exploding. "You what?"

"I love her," I whispered. "Please, just...please."

"No son of mine will love a daughter of Athena," he snarled.

Then his trident then met the paper, and Annabeth was turned to a pile of dust.


	4. Chapter 4

I shook Grover and whispered, "We're leaving."

His words were slurred by sleep. I caught something like, "What the heck" or maybe "What are you going to do" or even "What is with you and these night trips like seriously boy I need to sleep".

I was pretty sure it was one of the first two.

I began swimming around, and Grover squinted, saying, "What are you doing, Perc?"

"I can't stay here anymore," I said, not pausing.

"What?"

I rolled my eyes. "Are you deaf? I'm running away."

I wasn't sure if his gasp was because I accused him of being lacking in the art of hearing, or by the obvious reason of my presence. "What?"

"Seriously Grover! I said-"

"I heard what you said," he seemed to shout. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. I'm serious about a lot of things."

"No you're not."

"Irrelevant. I'm serious this time."

"What about your friends?"

"You're my friend, Grover..."

He huffed. "So what, you just assume I'm going to come with you?" I nodded. "I'm not! Geez, Perc, you gotta stop dragging me into this stuff. The head goatfish would slaughter me."

"Live a little, Grover!"

"I'd like to continue living in general, thank you very much!"

Finally, after a good minute of stare-down he muttered, "Fine."

Yes!

"But only because I'm your protector, and because I know I won't be able to change your mind."

"You're a wonderful friend," I cooed, going in for a bro hug, which he rejected. I feigned hurt, but he glared at me as to say "Do not even mess with me right now". It was such an unfamiliar presence on his face that I couldn't help but laugh.

We made a stop at the forges and found Tyson at work, all grease and sweat and smiles. He was a happy guy, never saw the kid frown. Being a cyclops fish was a hard job, but he enjoyed it. thankfully, it didn't take Tyson nearly as long as Grover to join me, and within minutes we had snuck out. The gates were more heavily guarded at night, so the escape proved rather difficult-but not impossible. Never impossible.

Once we were in the clear, just past Poseidon's territorial limits, we let out a collective sigh. Finally gone.

I turned and stared back at the faint glow of the palace.

"You really are serious," Grover muttered, neither of us looking at each other, only the place we have decided to leave behind.

I nodded, grinning.

"This is gonna be great."

"This sucks," I groaned in unison with my stomach.

"It's not my fault somebody forgot to bring food with them," Grover said, eyes dull with fatigue.

"Not all of us can eat the humans' garbage," I retorted.

"Again, not my fault. If you want one of my tin cans, be my guest."

"Thanks, but I'll pass," I said bitterly.

Grover rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet.

We and been swimming aimlessly for almost four hours now. There had to be food somewhere. This was the Mediterranean for crying out loud!

"Island," Tyson yelped, pointing his fin. "Island! Island!"

"We get it," Grover said, "you see an island."

But I was far more gracious than him. Islands meant trees, and trees meant fruit. My fins moved so fast I couldn't believe it-the things hunger can do when food is on the horizon.

We reached the island, and I had begun to swim towards its beach when I hit a barrier. There seemed to be a thick invisible wall surrounding it. I pounded at it again, too see if it would break (It didn't). We even circled the island searching for the stupid entrance, and still-nothing! By that point, I was close to screaming. I just want fruit. Is that too much to ask for?

I sighed loudly, hoping the invisible wall could hear my frustration.

Maybe it would cut me some slack, I hoped.

And to my surprise, it did.

Thankfully, it had been Grover that charged the wall when it decided to allow us entrance. He pretty much swam head on into the base of the tree beneath the surface. The waves crashed loudly against the shore, and my head had just popped above the surface when I was faced by two women, each with arms crossed and eyes glaring.

"Hey ladies," I said, turning on the smolder.

Judging by their still-present glares, It didn't seemed to work.

Well. This was a first.

I decided a different tactic.

"So," I said, "do you lovely ladies think you could lend me and my buddies a hand here? We've been craving some of those fruit-" I pointed to the trees. "-but it seems we have fins and not feet, so it presents quite a problem."

The one girl actually snorted.

"Us? Help a man?" The girl nearly gagged.

"A merman at the least!" the other added, and the two roared with laughter.

These girls were definitely annoying. So I chose another tactic, which usually never failed. I felt the water surge into my control, and I reached into the air towards the tree. Now, my actual hand couldn't reach the tree's fruits-but the ocean could. The water was shaped like my hands, but much, much larger, and extended into the high branches. The girls screamed as the fruit fell to the ground. I grinned.

But my grin was gone almost as fast as I watched my hands-well you know, the ocean ones-explode and crash back into the ocean.

What the heck?

"Who dares disturb my island?" a woman's voice boomed. It was accompanied by long black hair, and piercing green eyes. I thought they looked better on me, personal opinion and all, but who was asking?

Her eyes turned to slits when she spotted me.

"A merman," she spat. "Haven't I warned Triton to stay away?"

My face grew hot. "I try to disassociate myself from my stepbrother, thank you very much. And what's to you, anyway?"

Her expression took a new form, and a smile slipped onto her face. "Perseus!"

"Your name is Perseus?"

"No, silly." She then took a step into the water, and an air bubble encased around her. Suddenly, the water was much colder, but I stayed where I was.

"My name is Circe," she said, smiling.

"Circe...I've heard of you. You're the sea witch."

"Sorceress!" she corrected. "I am a sorceress!"

"Can you pull a bunnyfish out of your hat?"

Circe glared. "Are you trying to insult me?"

"Sorry, sorry. Habit."

"So what are you here for my dear? Suits, perfumes, a gift for the lovely lady?" Circe circled me in her magical air bubble, sizing me up. It was awkward.

"My friends and I just want some fruit-" I started.

"Fruit? Well, that's an unusual request." She squinted her eyes. "A son of Poseidon searching for food? Very uncommon."

"Well I sort of ran away-"

"Ran away! Smart choice."

"Wait-what?"

"Of course I support you," she said, looking at me as though I were just a guppy. "Men like that-well really, men at all-can be stupid and hotheaded. Better off with sensible people-like us!"

I glimpsed at the two girls, staring at Circe is disbelief. Did I smell or something?

Circe fixed her eyes on mine, curious. "What is it that...spurred this impulsive stunt?"

I focused my eyes on the sand, sheepish. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Oh?" I didn't even realize she was touching my shoulder. "Was it...a girl, perhaps?"

My cheeks flamed red, and I stuttered, "N-no. What would a girl have to do with anything? Of course I'm not-that's ridiculous-mermen and humans-it's not even possible-"

Circe's eyes grew wide. "A human?"

I snapped my mouth shut.

She took another long look at me, then muttered, "I think I have just the spell."

"What?"

She called over one of her girls, whispered a few words in her ear. The servant didn't seem happy to help a merman, but she didn't look in any place to deny Circe. A few minutes later, she emerged back on the beach carrying a vial. Circe took it in her hand, and addressed me.

"I'm willing to offer you a deal," Circe said to me.

"Depends," I replied, crossing my arms.

"Let me phrase it this way: you give me something, and I can give you what your father wouldn't."

When I still remained confused, she said exasperatedly, "I can turn you into a human!"

My eyes nearly bugged from my head. "What?"

"Men!" she shouted. "Are you deaf? I can give you legs! I can give you a chance with your human girl."

I was overjoyed, but I didn't want to take the offer so easily. This was Circe we were talking to; there was always a twist. "So what's the catch?" I asked her.

"Nothing big of course-I just need some small token of payment...Your voice, perhaps?"

"My voice?" My eyebrows shot into the air. "What do you need that for?"

"It's the most valuable thing I can think of at the top of my head!"

"Have you heard me sing?"

"No, and I don't intend to." She held out her hand, and suddenly a scroll and pen appeared. "So here's the deal. I give you three days to impress this human girl-if she kisses you before the three days are up, you're good to go. You can stay a human forever. And this cannot be just any kiss: it must be one of true love."

"Alright, get a girl to kiss me, can't be too difficult."

"Ah, but that's not all!" Circe continued. "If you fail to win her love by the third day, you will turn back into a merman, and you will belong to me."

I heard Grover and Tyson squeal behind me.

"Don't do it Percy!"

"Come on man, she's not worth it!"

Circe extended the scroll toward me, handed me the pen. "Do we have a deal?"

I gulped. This was big. Bigger than anything I've done before.

But then I thought of the book, the picture, everything my father destroyed.

I clenched my fists.

He may be a god, but I would never let him control me. It was my life, not his-and I chose Annabeth.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 | Feet

Feet were so interesting.

Seriously though—how humans have survived so long on these things was truly amazing. I was staring at mine—yeah, MINE—in utter amazement. Circe really did know how to work some magic.

After the weird voodoo magic, Circe kicked me out. It was way harder to swim than before because of obvious reasons, but I still had some Poseidon-powers in my system, as well as the help of Grover and Tyson. Now, I sat upon the shore, wiggling my toes in the sand. It was so weird to feel dry sand. One of the many new experiences I will be having.

"This is so awesome!" I wanted to shout, but no words came out of my mouth.

Oh yeah. Circe had my voice.

Grover was treading water a good ten feet away. "This doesn't sit right with me," he said nervously. I shrugged, kicked a bit of sand.

I attempted to stand, using a rock to balance myself. Just as soon as I got up, my knees gave out and I plopped back onto the sand.

"Did you have a nice trip?" Grover snickered.

"See you next fall!" Tyson piped in.

I spat sand out of my mouth, and glared at the both of them.

The next attempt at standing was more successful. I was still wobbly and unstable, but hey, I was standing. I managed to go completely upright, and I faced my friends. They exclaimed, shielding their eyes. "Gods Perc, could you cover up a bit?"

I glanced down—apparently legs weren't the only new body parts I had received.

Interesting.

I heard a loud barking not too far in the distance, and I quickly reached for whatever I could find to cover myself up. I was hoping for shipwrecked sails or clothes or flags, but alas, I was never that fortunate.

So when the dog appeared on the beach, barking, all I had to cover myself with was a violet scallop seashell. This wouldn't have been as mortifying being only the dog that appeared—but again, I was never that fortunate.

A girl appeared, chasing the dog onto the beach. I recognized this dog as the one from the ship, with its black and brown fur. Then my throat closed tightly and my face grew red, for I knew that the girl chasing the dog was Annabeth.

She was shouting for the dog—"Sophia, slow down! "—when she spotted me. She stopped dead in her tracks, her face turning nearly as red as mine was, and hurriedly covered her eyes. "Oh my—I'm so sorry—"

After finally removed her hands from her face, Annabeth squinted at me, as though trying to recall a distant memory.

"I…" she began, looking at me with equal curiosity and wary. "I've seen you before, haven't I?"

I nodded slowly. Gods, I wanted to speak right now. Of all the things Circe had to take, it had to be my voice? No sarcasm, no wit? Because having a one-way conversation with her while standing stark naked on the beach doesn't sound like the smartest tactic to me.

"You're the boy who saved me, aren't you? You are. I know it." When I didn't respond, she asked, "Aren't you going to say something?"

I tried to explain I couldn't talk without actually talking. She was pretty darn smart if she understood those hand gestures, cause if I were in her I sure wouldn't've.

But as she began to grasp the message, I could see the excitement dying in her. "Oh," she muttered. "Then I suppose you aren't him after all. This guy…I remember his voice, clear as a bell. He sounded like a tone-deaf seagull."

She chuckled, and I regretted singing immediately. I knew I should've just told her jokes or something, braided her hair for all I care. At least then I would not have been imprinted forever in her mind as the tone-deaf seagull.

She began stripping off her overcoat and, handing it to me, said, "I think this would be better than the shell." Annabeth her eyes and reached up and touched my hair. I could've fainted, that's how fast my heart was racing. It was still a strange feeling. A second later, her hand was gone, and was now holding a handful of seaweed. "That's a lot of seaweed. Did you get shipwrecked, too?"

I nodded, and the action caused another small piece of seaweed to fall out of my hair. She laughed. "Your head must be full of kelp by this point. Come on, Seaweed Brain. Let's get you cleaned up."

Balance was a whole new ball game when you had to actually move your legs. The second I even lifted my foot I see more than feel myself falling into the sand. And I did. Annabeth hurried to help me up, muttering something about medicines and sleep. She pulled my arm over her shoulder, allowing me to use her body as support. If I'd known that falling was all I needed to do to have my arms around her I would done that in the first place.

Using her as support, we began to walk down the beach. Sophia ran excited ahead of us, and I snuck a peek at my friends in the water. Grover looked petrified—he was such a guppy—and Tyson was absolutely joyous.

Within minutes we were approaching a beachside castle—or I guess what you would call a castle. It had towering white columns and bronze and marble statues. I immediately knew it was her home, just by the way she looked at it. By the ways he looked at me, she knew I knew, too.

"I'm kind of royalty," she began slowly, trying to see how I would react. Considering I was royalty, it didn't affect me, and she noticed this. She regarded me curiously for a moment, and then continued. "Well, my mother is Athena—you know that goddess? She's kind of a big deal around here."

Yeah, she's a big deal under the sea too, but for completely different reasons.

Just then, a swarm of ladies ran up to me, muttering things in Greek, pressing their hands to their cheeks, checking my body for injuries. I was carried off into the castle, without any idea what would happen to me.

I wasn't gonna go into the details with you, cause I was not really sure exactly what those women shoved in my hair and scrubbed on my skin in the first place. So I skipped ahead a bit, and here we were, sitting at the dinner table. The ladies had dressed me up in high pants and a loose white shirt. My eyes widened considerably when Annabeth walked in to the room, wearing a sleek green gown. Without even thinking, I went to say "Wow", my lips forming the word but not producing it. She noticed, and looked a little stunned.

"Eyes up here," she said, a bit agitated, and I snapped to attention. I guessed this happened a lot. (I could imagine why).

The two of us sat down for dinner with her father and her brother Eric. Like Annabeth, her father had shining blonde curls; Eric's hair was straight and jet black. Both he and his father had piercingly blue eyes—but not nearly as piercing as Annabeth's gray. Eric and Annabeth didn't share the same mother (Eric's had died when he was a toddler.) But they both moved in a way that you could tell they were siblings. They smacked their lips as they chewed, tilted their heads slightly before smiling. Their glare was deadly—I couldn't tell who's frightened me more.

It was difficult to impress this bunch, it really was. First, I tried to woo them with my stories, except I couldn't talk, and my hand gesturing was rather pathetic. Then, I noticed the table littered with hopperdingles and I began to brush my hair. Apparently Oracle had it wrong-very wrong. The three of them laughed hysterically for a good ten minutes afterwards.

When the topic of shipwrecks came up, I discovered that Eric, too, had been rescued. "A girl, with a golden voice," he told me dreamily. "I wish I knew who she was. Just to hear her voice again…" He drifted off. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but you could see a similar yearning in her expression, despite how she tried to hide it.

I wanted to know who this mystery rescuer was. I thought I was a one of a kind hero. What's worse was that this girl he spoke of could actually sing. I've been beaten at my own game, and I didn't even know I was playing one.

"I just realized," her father said, "we don't know your name."

Annabeth tilted her head to the side, curious. "You're right, I guess it didn't occur to me. But it's not like he can tell us," she noted, glancing at me. "He can't speak."

"Just because he can't speak doesn't mean he can't write, Annabeth. Eric, go get the boy a pen."

Being dyslexic made this a tad bit harder than it should have been, but when Eric handed me the pen, I focused all my attention on writing the five letters on the paper—and in the correct order.

"Percy," Annabeth read aloud from the paper. She looked up at me. "Your name is Percy?"

No, Annabeth, it's Thomas. What do you think?

"Percy," her father muttered, as though weighing whether or not my name was a worthy one. "Interesting name."

It was moments like these when I wished I had a comeback. There were plenty, resting on the tip of my tongue, but alas I could not speak. Stupid Circe.

The wait staff came and cleared our dishes. The king pulled a server to the side, requesting a special treat for the guest. The guest was me.

The woman smiled and replied, "Not a problem, your highness. Most certainly not a problem. I'll inform Sally right away."

The woman hurried off to the kitchen, and a few minutes later a new woman appeared, carrying desserts on a tray. She had black hair tied in a tight bun, and a warm smile. Seeing her made my heart tighten, but I didn't know why.

"Sally!" the king exclaimed, eagerness in his eyes. "What have you made for us this evening?"

"Only your favorites," Sally told him, placing a delicacy on his plate. I didn't have anything to compare to these from my own experiences under the sea, so I really couldn't describe them other than their colors. The king was treated with something brown and white, and Eric and Annabeth both stabbed their hopperdingles into something yellow. (I still think hopperdingles would have served better the way Oracle taught me, if I could say so myself.)

Sally turned to look at the special guest, with the last dessert on her tray. When our eyes met, hers widened and her jaw dropped-as did the tray she had been carrying.

The rest of the staff rushed over to clean up her mess, all while Sally muttered apology after apology. She kept glancing at me, whispering, "Impossible, it's impossible," and looking down again. Then she hurried off to the kitchen, and one of the waiters cleaned up the rest of the mess on the floor. Within several minutes, another waiter appeared with a new dessert. This time it was blue.

He placed the dessert in front of me, then turned to the table and apologized for the mayhem, insuring it would never happen again.

My eyes stared at the dessert. I felt like it was supposed to mean something, but that made no sense. There was no way she could have known me. Did I look like somebody from her past?

I decided not to worry over it right now, and dug into the food. It was delicious. Annabeth glanced over at me. There was a smirk on her face. "There's some blue on your lips."

When I blushed an entire laugh slipped from her mouth. It was surprising that a girl who could glare so well could laugh so angelically.

Eric seemed to be surprised by her laughter as well. "What's with you?" Eric asked mockingly, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Her expression morphed into a glare. "Shut up," she snapped.

He held his hands up. "Jeez, don't get so defensive sis. It was just a question."

The king cleared his throat, stopping Annabeth from snapping at her brother again. "You should show Percy around tomorrow, Annabeth. Give him a nice tour of the kingdom, will you."

"Of course father."

We were then dismissed and told to go to our rooms for the night. Annabeth walked me to mine, and just before shutting the door, she said quickly, "It was really great meeting you, Percy."

I wanted to scream and squeal and jump and kiss her or something, but all I could do was nod. Nodding was seriously getting old.

"Goodnight, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth grinned.

The last thing I thought of that night was her smile-and how much more comfortable human beds were.


	6. Chapter 6

According to Annabeth, I was an atrocious dancer.

Now, of course, this was extremely accurate considering I have been walking for a total of a day. Balance was difficult enough in regard to walking. Now I have to add rhythm to it? What does she think, I'm a god or something?

Annabeth was the first person I saw this morning. She had come into my room to wake me up. I was startled when she shook me, but she just laughed. She swiped a finger at her lips, smirking. "You drool when you sleep," she told me. I guess I wouldn't have known that, since I lived underwater and you couldn't really tell those sort of things, but now it was just extremely embarrassing.

We took a horse-and-buggy to town, as her father had requested. I had almost peed my pants when the horse started talking to me. Gods, he was rude. I tried to explain the situation to Annabeth when she noticed my confusion. My hand gestures couldn't explain, sadly, and she just turned back to the road. She muttered something under her breath, and I was pretty sure it sounded something like "crazy."

Back to the dance lessons. We were in the town square, just casually doing nothing, when this stupid one-man band decided to roll right in front of us. I wanted to shoot myself, it was that bad. Annabeth was thrilled. First, she threw questions at the musician, curious at how that contraption could play so many instruments at once. Considering the guy was busy actually playing the blasted thing, he ignored her. Eventually, she stopped asking questions and instead offered me her hand.

I looked at the hand for a minute, confused, until she rolled her eyes and said, "Dance with me, Seaweed Brain." She grabbed my hand and pulled into the street where other couples and children were dancing. Annabeth threw a token into the man's hat. "Let's speed it up, yeah?"

The man smiled and changed to a rather energetic song. The others who were dancing picked up their pace, began twirling and laughing and throwing their arms in the air.

I tried to imitate as best I could. Let's just say it didn't end well.

"You are probably the worst dancer I've ever seen!" Annebeth exclaimed, her voice full of laughter. I was grateful for the end of the song; no more tripping or slipping or just all-around embarrassment. I was completely out of breath when Annabeth pulled me back onto the dance floor, insisted that I have a lesson or two. She dropped another coin into the man's hat, saying, "Slow, please."

A nice, slow song began to play. All the couples took to the floor, whereas the children left and began to play amongst themselves. Though I wanted nothing more than to sit back down again, I at least had Annabeth to lead me this time. She guided my hands to her waist and rested her own upon my shoulders. I couldn't even hear a word she was saying, really; I was too distracted by her touch. Somehow, through the daze, I managed to dance to her instruction-correction: I was moving my feet. Dancing would require much more rhythm than these flimsy legs had in them. Regardless, I kept moving my feet, and Annabeth kept moving hers, and it was actually a decent time.

After the dance lessons, Annabeth took me out on the lake. It was so strange, this body of salt-less water. I wondered if there were any merpeople living in these lakes.

Annabeth looked absolutely radiant under the setting sun. I was almost breathless looking at her. Whenever she looked my way I went back to paddling the boat. I refused to let her do it for me. She's done enough, honestly. The least I could do was man the oars.

The sun was gone before I knew it, and we were left to sit in the moonlight. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. My throat was tight, my palms sweaty. If you looked up "nervous" in the dictionary you'd find a picture of me smack dab on the page. How was I supposed to kiss her when I could barely look at her without blushing. I never had this kind of trouble flirting with the mermaids.

"Psssstt!"

I looked at Annabeth, but she didn't appear to have said anything.

"Down here!"

I almost dropped my oar. I glanced to the side of the boat and noticed Tyson and Grover swimming alongside. My expression must have gone white, for Annabeth asked, "Is everything alright?"

Quickly, I shook my head. Play cool, Percy, play cool. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was going to end badly tonight, but I tried not to focus on that. Instead, I focused on Annabeth, who was suddenly much closer than she had been seconds ago.

If she noticed my heartrate bump up an octave, she didn't mention it. Instead, she just smiled and leaned closer.

I gulped.

This was it, I told myself. This was the moment you've been waiting for. The scene was just right-the ambiance of the lake and its sudden background music. She was totally into it, too. Just kiss her. You've got this, you do.

I must have been taking an awful long time, because I heard Grover snap, "Just kiss the girl already!"

Annabeth head whipped to the side, eyes wide. "Did you hear that?"

I shook my head, internally cursing Grover for ruining this. On the other hand, if I'd just manned up and kissed her Grover wouldn't have had to open his blasted mouth. Way to go, Percy.

After uselessly searching for the owner of the voice, Annabeth turned back to me. She pushed a blonde strand of hair behind her ear, smiling shyly. "Maybe we should start heading back. It's kind of dark outside, and I'm not supposed to drive after curfew."

Curfew had always been a joke to me when I lived under the sea. When had I ever taken anything my father said seriously? But I wasn't here to get Annabeth into trouble. We paddled to shore and transferred ourselves from the boat to her horse and buggy. That horse had an even worse attitude than before-apparently it was tired now and we stupid humans were taking time out of his beauty sleep. My fist in his face wouldn't help his beauty either, but I wasn't the type to harm animals. Yet.

As we rode back to the her home, she began talking about the buildings we passed, describing to me the architecture and pointing her favorite aspects. Her voice was filled with awe the entire time, and it was probably the happiest I had ever seen her. Sure, I had no idea half the stuff she was talking about, but it was worth everything to see her smile like that.

"Sorry for rambling about all that back there," she said as we had reached the steps of her home. "I'm just a total architecture geek. Guess I get it from my mom."

That would definitely make sense. All I ever got from my dad was fins, gills, and a disregard for any sort of rules. Not a great inheritance, to be completely honest.

Annabeth walked me to my room again, because 1. I still have no idea where anything is in this castle and 2. I think she actually might enjoy my company, which is a surprise and a relief. But mostly, I think she could tell I was lost whenever I stepped foot in this place. It was so massive. For all I knew my cousins could be occupying a room next door. Unlikely, of course, since they were mermaids, but still.

We reached my room, and I regretted having to leave Annabeth. "Have a good night, Seaweed Brain," she said with a small smile. Her eyes bored into mine, calculating, as though she were trying to figure me out. I'm usually an open book, but Circe's deal kind of made that book a little more difficult to read. Circe completely overestimated my ability to use body language. So far, it's been a total flop. Even though this deal got me the legs I yearned for, it also gained me a great deal of awkwardness, something I was completely unfamiliar to. I needed this kiss as soon as possible, even if only to express to Annabeth how I really felt about her.

There was something else she was trying to say, something I couldn't decipher in those deep gray eyes. But she just looked down and left me, going to her own room for the night. I tried to not think about my failed attempt to kiss her. It was almost embarrassing, the way I've managed to let the time slip past me. I had one day left! One day to get Annabeth to kiss me? At the rate I was going, I was never going to get that kiss. But if there were anything worse than Annabeth not loving me back, it was being property of that stupid sea witch, Circe. I couldn't let that happen.

Annabeth had to love me, right? The way she looked at me...that couldn't be for nothing. It had to have been love. I just knew it.

Instead of torturing myself with thoughts, I tried to go to sleep. Unfortunately for me, my dreams weren't much better.

I found myself on Circe's island, amongst her followers. They were all trying to catch a peek at the sorceress, who was leaning over a big crystal ball. I pushed through them without any trouble; it's like they didn't even know I was there. When I was at the front, I had a clear view of what they were all itching to see: me.

Well, not just me. Me and Annabeth. The crystal ball was somehow replaying the night's events, starting with our dancing fiasco up to the the not-so-successful boat ride. It was strange to watch myself and Annabeth this way. But as the almost-kiss neared, I could feel the women in the room growing nervous.

"She couldn't possibly," one of the girls muttered.

"The girl is too good for him!" another said, voice raised.

"Don't lower your standards for a man-a merman at that," another added.

I rolled my eyes. Well, gee, thanks for the support.

There was a collective gasp amongst the crowd when the two of us were only an inch apart. I smiled to myself, but it was gone when I remembered this scene didn't go in my favor, but theirs. The moment Annabeth moved away, I swear you could hear the cheering all the way at the bottom of the deepest trenches.

Circe spoke up, "Settle down, ladies!" She snapped her fingers and the scene on the crystal ball froze. "I know we are proud to have witnessed the boy's rejection-"

Rejection? That didn't sound very accurate to me.

"-but we don't know how long the girl will hold out! She could easily succumb to the boy's charms, even kiss the fool. Would that be good?"

"No," the audience replied.

"We can't let this son of Poseidon get his kiss. Higher precautions must be taken. I will not lose my chance, not again."

What the heck was this woman talking about? What did she care about my and Annabeth's love life, or lack thereof?

"Bring out out the boy," Circe said, chin up .My back stiffened, assuming the women would grab hold of me any second. But no one laid a finger on me. Instead, a boy was being led into the sandy arena, his face obstructed from my view. He looked familiar, in a way. Before I could get a closer look, Circe had my attention again. "We must do whatever it takes to keep the deal in my favor. If everything goes my way the boy and all the seven seas will be ours! Women will finally have control, just like it was always meant to be!"

The crowd roared for their leader. A chant started. "Women shall rule! Women shall rule!" The boy's face was a still a mystery to me, and the closer I tried to look the more blurred it became. The women's words were the last thing I heard as I drifted out of the dream and into a soundless sleep.


End file.
